1B. Immature Leadership: President Trump?

A very recent paper by Scott Allison and others from the University of Richmond focuses directly on immature leadership and Donald Trump. The paper explores what it means for a person to show maturity as a leader. It also describes the developmental stages required to demonstrate mature leadership. The authors suggest the pinnacle of mature leadership is what they label as heroic transforming leadership. Two characteristics mark such leadership: unitive consciousness and non-dualistic thinking.

Unitive Consciousness

In Western society the authors suggest one becomes a mature leader by a process of becoming a hero. At the conclusion of this journey the hero is transformed into a wise elder. Heroes earn possession of eight traits: smart, strong, selfless, reliable, caring, resilient, charisma, and inspiring. Other researchers have identified similar traits inherent in heroism. Many of these traits appear to center on the other. “The fully developed hero sees no boundary between herself and others.” This sense of oneness is illustrated by such traits as compassionate, selfless, helpful, sacrificing, and caring, all of which inhere in the traits of protecting and saving others. The authors conclude that the central defining trait of heroes is selflessness. Heroes, in their research, “want to unify people and the world whereas villains foster social divisions.” In this regard, they quote Martin Luther King, Jr.: “I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.” The authors call this characteristic of selflessness “unitive consciousness.”

Non-Dualistic Thinking

The second key characteristic mature leaders demonstrate is non-dualistic thinking, which is opposite of dualistic thinking. Dualistic thinking refers to seeing the world in an all-or-nothing binary way. Social psychology and cognitive psychology research support the belief that most people compartmentalize the world into the two categories of us vs. them. Although dual thinking is oversimplified thinking it is necessary for us to have a clear understanding of the world. Nonetheless, dualistic thinking stems “from a need for cognitive simplification as well as a drive to see oneself and one’s group as superior to others.”

While dualistic thinking is not bad in and of itself, it is insufficient for a broad, mature understanding of the world. Non-dual thinking “refers to broader, more mature contemplation of perceived events,” and is “humble and patient with mystery and ambiguity.” It can be referred to as “calm, ego-less seeing,” the “enlightened ability to see the world with balance, wisdom, and clarity.” Understanding paradox requires such thinking. But most people habitually use dualistic thinking at the expense of non-dualistic thinking. Mature thinking is rare because it takes more work and often leads to conclusions contrary to one’s self interest or one’s group interest.

Non-dual thinking is not necessarily superior to dualistic thinking, but non-dual thinking transcends and includes dualistic thinking. Wisdom and maturity “require a higher level of consciousness that appreciates nuance, adjusts for bias, incorporates patience with uncertainty, listens to the heart as well as the mind, accounts for context, and remains humble and aware of not knowing the entire truth in any given situation.” Such thinking is perhaps demonstrated more by women than men.

The authors see Donald Trump as a “puer aeternus” because of his inability to meet their two key criteria of mature leadership – unitive consciousness and non-dualistic thinking. They identify as a rationale for this conclusion Trump’s male bravado and machismo; his tendency toward hedonism and self-destruction; his being drawn to women who accept and feed his narcissism; a sadistic streak that exists beneath an exterior that is often charming; his impulsiveness, impatience, and low tolerance for frustrating events; and his avoidance of tasks that require long preparation and training.

Followers

If Donald Trump is an immature leader, how does he attract followers? There may be many answers to that question. But in keeping with research associated with their theme, the authors argue that immature leaders attract immature followers. Social psychology research finds that people tend to have a strong need for clarity, resolution, and regularity, a need more strongly met through dualistic thinking. “Leaders who scapegoat, targeting others as the enemy, are more likely to attract followers who desire clear messengers and who are motivated to see themselves as better and more deserving of better outcomes than others. Dualistic thoughts delivered in a charismatic manner will almost guarantee that an immature leader will attract a large immature following.”

When an “eternal boy” becomes a leader, he unable to appeal to the highest levels of his followers’ needs. Unlike Lincoln, he activates the lower, less evolved aspects of our nature and not “the better angels.” According to this schema, Trump’s followers suppress these better angels due in part to their need for a positive social identity (a white racial identity).

Economic conditions that have left many of his followers unemployed or underemployed activate this need. Trump’s followers believe non-white workers in the United States and workers in foreign lands, especially in Mexico and China, threaten America. Perhaps many of his followers also saw Barack Obama as not protecting them from racial groups who are different. An immature, charismatic leader can turn followers into children rather than elevating them.

An eternal boy leader is probably incapable of adopting unitive thinking and non-dualistic mindset because he is very selfish, narcissistic, and egocentric. Like an eternal boy, Trump has stagnated in his social and moral development. And although it may appear that Trump has been able to move from dependence to autonomy, his autonomy seems quite fragile.

Heroism is in the eye of the beholder, so perhaps many of Trump’s followers see him heroic transforming leader while others see him as a villainous transforming leader. Many of his followers may not be interested in scaling moral heights. They may see Trump as a wealthy and powerful white man who is working to restore pride in their race, their country, and their parochial world. On other hand, Trump can exploit the dualistic thinking of his followers for his own benefit.

Trump’s leadership represents what the authors call the fundamental thinking error of leadership. This error is fundamental in two respects. One, a simple, binary construction of reality is fundamental, basic, elemental. Two, “the error is fundamental because a dualistic mental approach is an innate and ingrained characteristic of human thinking.”

Finally, Allison et al believe that the classical heroic leadership model is becoming something that is passing away. They believe this type of leadership is masculine, egocentric, materialist, goals-driven, outcome-focused, privileged, limited, and dualistic. Leaders have almost always adopted this style, villainously heroic in Trump’s case. A new kind of heroic leadership is emerging that tends to be feminine, inclusive, active, democratic, sociocentric, process-driven, transformative, and non-dualistic. It is a wise and mature style of leadership.

Comment

As with the last post (1A), the reader can determine whether Trump’s behavior meets the immature leadership style as described in this paper. To the extent that Trump’s leadership style does meet the definition of immature leadership, the authors attempt to develop a counterpoint style of leadership. My own thought is that wise, mature leadership tends to be different than the leadership described in most if not nearly all leadership scholarship. As I mentioned earlier, it seems to fit my belief that leadership is broader, deeper, and more sociocentric than the typical focus on influencing followers to attain relatively instrumental goals and objectives.